African-Americans & the Black Experience: African American Online Lectures

The whole series. Darius Spearman.  Posted in 2013.

Episode 1 : What is Black Studies?  In this episode, we look at the origins of a relatively new academic discipline. How did Black Studies come about and how is it distinct from other academic disciplines? Also, what are the challenges faced by scholars, academics and students of Black Studies in higher education? 

Episode 2 : Why Pursue Black Studies?  In this episode, why pursue Black Studies? What is the significance of Black Studies in higher education? Also, we look at the contributions that Black Studies as a discipline has made in academia. How has the Black Studies pioneered and developed theories and approaches to problems in ways that have added to academia and society as a whole? Is Black Studies solely for the consumption of African American students? Should it be? Why should Asian, Latino, or White students have an interest in pursuing Black Studies?

Episode 3 : Africa in Historical Context.  In this episode, we look at Africa in historical context and the events leading up to the Atlantic slave trade. Black Studies is a response to widespread misrepresentation of the history of the African continent and people of African descent, but what does an alternative context look like? Do we simply glorify Africa in response? If, in fact we are to look to Africa’s glorious past as an alternative, then how did things go from a wealthy Africa to the Atlantic Slave Trade and European colonization? We will explore rise and fall of powerful and wealthy African kingdoms as well as the fateful path they took that ultimately led to the Atlantic slave trade -the trafficking of millions of human beings from West Africa to the Americas.

Episode 4 : Slavery in Black and White.  In this episode, Slavery in Black and White: The Development of Race Based Slavery in the British North American Colonies. Slavery is nothing new in human history, but what is relatively new, however, is the phenomenon of race based slavery – a radical transformation from slavery as it had been practiced up to the point of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Given that the British colonizers conquered many different peoples, and had a general distain for the Irish, Native Americans, Africans, and each of their conquered subjects, how then did it come to be that Africans got tagged with slave status?

Episode 5 : Healing as Resistance Introduction.  The middle passage subjected enslaved Africans to an ordeal the depths of which are literally abysmal. That is, the further and deeper one looks at the Atlantic Slave Trade, the more and more suffering one finds. New evidence continues to emerge that suggests to historians that we have not yet begun to approach the depths of the African experience on the Atlantic Slave Trade. Like the bodies of countless Africans whose bones lie somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic, the full breadth of the experience of enslaved Africans may never be fully uncovered.

Episode 6 : African American Frontiers (Part 1).  The role frontier is profoundly significant for persons of African descent. Beginning with the Atlantic Slave Trade, the Middle Passage impacted both sides of the Atlantic.  The meeting of Africans with those who would later be known as Americans transformed the African continent while the American frontier transformed the Africans who were transported there.

Episode 7 : African American Frontiers (Part 2).  In this episode, we explore how life was different for African Americans on the frontier. How those differences translate to both danger and opportunity for persons of African descent in the Spanish and English American territories, and the role Africans played in shaping what was to become the American  frontier.

Episode 8 : Did the Civil War End Slavery?  In this episode, we will assess fruits of the struggle to define “citizenship” in “post-slavery” America.  What did “freedom” mean for former slaves?  How did black women fare in the period of reconstruction?  Finally, how did the reality of emancipation stack up against the aspirations of African Americans who fought and sacrificed during the Civil War?

Episode 9 : The Unfinished Revolution.  In this episode, we examine different perspectives on the success and failure of Reconstruction. We look at the African American responses to the Reconstruction  as well as African Americans who are taking matters in their own hands by seeking out opportunities on the United States frontier. Finally, we examine the ideological responses that frame the continued struggle to finish an unfinished revolution.

Episode 10 : Unity in Diversity (Part 1)  In this episode, Unity In Diversity? In Part 1 of this series, we will explore the political and social climate up to 1920s that is going to shape the boundaries of African Americans’ ideological responses to the failure of Reconstruction.

Episode 11 : University in Diversity (Part 2)  In this episode, Unity In Diversity? We saw in Episode 10 two approaches to the problems facing African Americans as a result of the failures of Reconstruction. The integrationist and the Black Nationalist approaches were fundamentally in opposition to one another and the conflict between WEB DuBois and Booker T. Washington was simply built in to their philosophical ideologies. In part two, we will explore other ideological approaches. Just like integration and Black Nationalism, the approach to problems in the 1920s and 1930s are each going to have their own set of strength and weaknesses. As we also see, they carry with them their own built in conflicts with other philosophical approaches.

Episode 12 : University in Diversity (Part 3)  In this episode,Unity In Diversity? We look at the various often conflicting elements of Black Nationalism in the struggle for Black liberation and self-determination, and specifically at Maulana Karenga and his notion of cultural nationalism within the US organization. Is conflict inevitable between Black Nationalist organizations such as US and other civil rights organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which operate outside the black nationalist framework? What about the various Black Nationalist organizations themselves? Can they work together in light of their sometimes opposing views on how to put the philosophy and goals of black nationalism to practice? How might it be possible for different organizations to form a united front while holding a variety of views on exercising Black Nationalism? Can there be unity in diversity?

Episode 13 : Race versus gender - Femiphobia and Homophobia within the Black Liberation Study.  In this episode, Race vs. Gender: Femiphobia and Homophobia Within the Black Liberation Struggle. I have previously asserted that racism has impacted whites to their detriment in ways that most whites don’t understand. By the same token, I assert that patriarchal masculinity, sexism and homophobia impacts men to their detriment in ways that most men don’t understand. As expressed in the Black liberation struggle in particular, I am further asserting that sexism and homophobia have been the Achilles heel of the movement. In this episode, we will look at the social construct of patriarchal masculinity as it is expressed in the Black liberation struggle. We will start with the critical question posed by the brilliant scholar and social critic, bell hooks. We will then take a look at some specific controversies vis-à-vis gender and homophobia. Has homophobia and femiphobia (fear of women) hurt the Black Liberation struggle?

Episode 14. The Conservative Era from Reagan to Obama.  In this episode, The Conservative Era: From Reagan to the Age of Obama. The late 1970s and 1980s brought about a shift in American attitudes towards race and civil rights. In this episode we will see how the neoconservative movement was able to simultaneously embrace the ideals of the old civil rights movement and leaders such as Martin Luther King, while at the same time undermining the systemic changes that the civil rights movement fought for. We will begin with one of the ideological underpinnings of a neoconservative movement — new racism. We will then look at some of the specific aspects of the neoconservative era under Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., and Bill Clinton, as well as some prominent Black conservatives. We will end on a discussion with Cornel West and Carl Dix on Race and Politics in the Age of Obama.

Episode 15 : African American Frontiers (Part 3).  In this episode, African American Frontiers (Part 3): A Tale of Two Revolutions. We look at the two new republics in the western hemisphere — the United States and Haiti. As the two fledgling nations forge new frontiers, what will their independence mean for African Americans? What new dangers and opportunities will Africans face? What role will Blacks on the frontier play in shaping the course of a new nation?

Episode 16 : The Denmark Vesey Revolt.  This rare video is based on the planned slave uprising, in Charleston South Carolina, 1822. Denmark Vesey (a free Black man) organized a slave rebellion in Charleston. Vesey and his conspirators planned to take control of Charleston harbor and navigate to Santo Domingo, with every Black man, woman, and child they could carry.

Class Central - Look here to see if anyone is offering free online courses, via MOOC format, or in other ways. 

Coursera - Another source for online classes.

Open Culture Free Online Courses.

African American History: From Emancipation to the Present.  A course offered by Jonathan Holloway, Professor of History, African American Studies and American Studies at Yale University in Spring 2010. The purpose of this course is to examine the African American experience in the United States from 1863 to the present. Prominent themes include the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; African Americans’ urbanization experiences; the development of the modern civil rights movement and its aftermath; and the thought and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.

African American History: Emancipation to the Present - Free Online Video - Course Materials - Jonathan Holloway, Yale.

Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement : A five part online lecture series by Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, the University of Illinois, Urbana, focusing on the dialectics of the freedom struggle - black people struggling against the box of "U.S. capitalist democreacy", starting September 11, 2011. 

1.  The meaning of Freedom, video: 57:37, slides: 23

 

2.  W. E. B. DuBois, video: 1:05:22, slides: 28

 

3.  Civil Rights Organizations, video: 1:09:02, slides: 36

 

4.  Civil Rights Campaigns, video: 1:11:44, slides: 27

 

5.  Pan-Africanism and Nationalism, video: 1:27:57, slides: 27

 

6.  Malcolm X, video 1:21:12, slides: 22

From Freedom Rides to Ferguson: Narratives of Nonviolence in the American Civil Rights Movement.  Bernard LaFayette Jr, Emery University.  The Modern Civil Rights Movement is a significant landmark in United States history. This movement was a struggle for human rights directly challenging the nation to extend its democratic principles to African Americans and all peoples. This course sheds light on the often overlooked strategic planning that supported the direction of the events and is told by a voice intimately involved in the organization of movement—Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. Topics include the history of the campaigns, the different coalitions and groups, philosophy and methods of nonviolent direct action, and the contemporary application of nonviolent conflict transformation. The course hosts several guest speakers, including Andrew Young, Reverend C.T. Vivian, Henry "Hank" Thomas, and Constance Curry.  Note: Coursera courses offered vary from semester to semester.   Check to see if there are others offered in your area of interest.

Black Women and the Criminal Justice System.  Part of the Conversations in Black Freedom Studies (CBFS) series which will feature experts that will explore the menace of white terror and criminal injustice against the black community in general and black women in particular. CBFS is curated by professors Jeanne Theoharis (Brooklyn College/CUNY) and Komozi Woodard (Sarah Lawrence College). @SchomburgCenter @SchomburgCBFS #BlkWomenJustice SPEAKER BIOS Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor is the author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (Haymarket Books, 2016), an examination of the history and politics of Black America and the development of the social justice movement, #BlackLivesMatter, in response to police violence in the United States. Dr. Taylor’s research examines race and public policy, including American housing policies. She is currently working on a manuscript titled Race for Profit: Black Housing and the Urban Crisis of the 1970s, which looks at the federal government's promotion of single-family homeownership in black communities after the urban rebellions of the 1960s. Taylor was the Chancellor’s postdoctoral research associate in the Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013-2014. Taylor received her PhD from the Department of African American Studies at Northwestern University in 2013. Keisha N. Blain is a historian of the 20th century United States with broad interdisciplinary interests and specializations in African American History, the modern African Diaspora, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Her research interests include black internationalism, radical politics, and global feminisms. She completed a PhD in History from Princeton University in 2014. Blain published The Charleston Syllabus: Readings on Race, Racism, and Racial Violence. She is currently completing her first book, Contesting the Global Color Line: Black Women, Nationalist Politics, and Internationalism. The book analyzes an array of primary sources to uncover the crucial role women played in building black nationalist and internationalist protest movements in the United States and other parts of the African Diaspora from the early twentieth century to the 1950s. Sarah Haley is the Assistant Professor of Gender Studies and African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her PhD and M.A in African American Studies and American Studies at Yale University. Haley published No Mercy Here: Gender, Punishment, and the Making of Jim Crow Modernity.

The Black Revolution on Campus, October 26, 2012  : Scholar Martha Biondi examines the impact of the black power movement of the 1960's and 1970's on academia and colleges, including the establishment of Black Studies at universities. This program was recorded by Chicago Access Network Television (CANT)

Educating Harlem Lecture Series: Dr. Martha Biondi, April 8, 2013  : Dr. Martha Biondi is an Associate Professor of African American Studies and History at Northwestern University. Her talk was entitled, "Viva Harlem U:" Black and Puerto Rican Students and the Transformation of City College.

Rethinking Theory in Black Studies : A five part online lecture series by Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, the University of Illinois, Urbana.

The UCLA African American Studies Program is making various lectures available via YouTube.

Clark Atlanta University Presents W. E. B. Du Bois Major Works Seminars, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 (whole series)

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The Politics of Black Women's Hair Symposium, March 1, 2013

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Morning Session via YouTube

Afternoon Session via YouTube

Final Session via YouTube

Poster with Credits

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness   :  Professor Michelle Alexander discusses the systematic incarceration of African American males and how it authorizes discrimination after their release. This program was recorded by Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV). To purchase a DVD, contact CAN TV's Community Partners at (312) 738-1400 or at communitypartners@cantv.org.

New Jim Crow Convict Undercaste : Legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues persuasively we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it. Jim Crow and legal racial segregation has been replaced by mass incarceration as a system of social control. ---More African Americans are under correctional control today than were enslaved in 1850--- Alexander reviews American racist history from the colonies to the Clinton administration, delineating its deliberate transformation into the war on drugs. She provides analysis of the effect of this mass incarceration upon former inmates who will be discriminated against, legally, for the rest of their lives, denied employment, housing, education, and public benefits. Most provocatively, she reveals how both the move toward colorblindness and affirmative action may blur our vision of injustice. She spoke at Riverside Church in Manhattan May 21, 2011. Camera: Joe Friendly


Michelle Alexander is a longtime civil rights advocate and litigator. She won a 2005 Soros Justice Fellowship and now holds a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Mortiz College of Law at Ohio State University. Alexander served for several years as director of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU of Northern California, and subsequently directed the Civil Rights Clinics at Stanford Law School, where she was an associate professor. Alexander is a former law clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court, and has appeared as a commentator on CNN, MSNBC, DemocracyNow! and NPR. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is her first book. Audio: Riverside Church, Camera: Joe Friendly

Beyond The Prison Industrial Complex : Ruth Wilson Gilmore discusses her Critique of mass incarceration and outlines some strategies to reduce the over-reliance on incarceration and to build alternative pathways to safety and justice. This Program was recorded by Chicago Access Network Television(CAN TV). To purchase a DVD, contact CAN TV's Community Partners at (312) 738-1400 or at communitypartners@cantv.org

An Introduction to African American Studies : An online course offered by Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 2007.

Introduction to African American Studies -  Real Player . Video. Abdul Alkalimat, University of Illinois

Rethinking the Black Liberation Movement - Free Online Video - Abdul Alkalimat, University of Illinois

This course introduces the viewer to African-American history, with particular emphasis on the political thought and protest movements of the period after 1930, focusing on selected individuals who have shaped and been shaped by modern African-American struggles for freedom and justice. Clayborne Carson is a professor in the History Department at Stanford University.

Lecture 1 - Course Introduction and W.E.B. Du Bois  (43:41) - Lecture 1 of Clay Carson's Introduction to African-American History Course (HIST 166) concentrating on the Modern Freedom Struggle (Fall 2007). Topics in this lecture include a course introduction and W.E.B. Du Bois. Recorded September 25, 2007 at Stanford University. 

Lecture 2 - Du Bois and the Great Depression  (1:01:27) - Recorded September 27, 2007 at Stanford University. 

Lecture 3 - Shirley Graham: Transformation of an Artist/Intellectual  (1:19:00) - Lecture 3 of Clay Carson's Introduction to African-American History Course (HIST 166) concentrating on the Modern Freedom Struggle (Fall 2007).  Recorded October 2, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 4 - Paul Robeson: Star to Outcast  (51:29)  - Lecture 4 of Clay Carson's Introduction to African-American History Course (HIST 166) concentrating on the Modern Freedom Struggle (Fall 2007). This lecture is entitled "Paul Robeson: Star to Outcast". Recorded October 4, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 5 - Bayard Rustin: Radical Outsider  (47:03) - Recorded October 9, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 6 - Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Social Gospel  (58:35) - Recorded October 11, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 7 - The Women Who Made the Montgomery Movement  (1:21:31) - This class session is a guest lecture by Awele Makeba on "The Women Who Made the Montgomery Movement". Recorded October 16, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 8 - Ella Baker Inspires the Student Movement  (1:13:29) - Recorded October 18, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 9 - Bob Moses: Mississippi Organizer (43:27) - Recorded October 23, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 10 - Vincent Harding on Martin Luther King Jr. (1:09:41) - This class session is a guest lecture by Vincent Harding on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recorded October 25, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 11 - Clarence Jones on Martin Luther King Jr. (1:18:35) - This class session is a guest lecture by Clarence Jones on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Recorded November 1, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 12 - Malcolm X and his Ambiguous Legacy (1:09:07) - Recorded November 6, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 13 - Stokely Carmichael Defines Black Power (1:19:34) - Recorded November 8, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 14 - The Black Panther Party (1:03:42) - This class session is a guest lecture by Elaine Brown on the Black Panther Party. Recorded November 13, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 15 - Outlaw Feminist Angela Davis (39:52) - Recorded November 15, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 16 (1:17:33) - This class session is a guest lecture by Erica Huggins. Recorded November 27, 2007 at Stanford University.

Lecture 17 - Jesse Jackson Runs for President (not available)

Lecture 18 - Tupac Shakur's 'Thug Life' (34:43) - Recorded December 4, 2007 at Stanford University

Lecture 19 - Barack Obama's American Dream (1:20:59) - Recorded December 6, 2007 at Stanford University.

African-American History: Modern Freedom Struggle - Free Online Course - Clay Carson, Stanford

C-Span Offers a Lectures in American History series that occasionally has podcasts related to African American history.  Scroll through to see which ones are of interest to you.   Here are a few examples:

Lincoln, Slavery, and the Dred Scott Case.   Professor Allen Guelzo talked about Abraham Lincoln, his views on slavery, and the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision. Professor Guelzo described Lincoln’s upbringing and the career path that led him to debates with Stephen Douglas during an 1858 U.S. Senate race, during which one of the main topics was the issue of slavery in the United States. He also talked about how the Dred Scott case served to polarize political views on whether new states admitted to the Union would allow slavery.   February 16, 2017.

1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi.   Professor Joel Shrock teaches a class about “Freedom Summer,” a 1964 black voter registration project in Mississippi. He talked about the efforts of leaders such as Bob Moses to include white volunteers in order to bring media attention to Mississippi.  November 10, 2016.

African-American Women Doctors in the Early 20th Century.   Professor Ameenah Shakir talked about African American women doctors in the early 20th century. She described their efforts on behalf of other African American women in the areas of birthing practices and cancer prevention. She argued that many of theses doctors saw a connection between race and health activism.  April 20, 2016.

Philosophy of W.E.B. Du Bois.    Professor Maurice Jackson talked about the philosophy of W.E.B. Du Bois, an influential African-American sociologist, author, and civil rights activist in late-19th and early 20th centuries. He described Du Bois' early life, his role as an educator, and his relationship with other activists of the time.  March 3, 2016.

Freedom after the Civil War. Professor Stephen West talks about how and when former slaves experienced freedom in the Civil War and Reconstruction South. He described the role of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the creation of black codes that attempted to curtail the freedom of former slaves. This was part of the course “Era of Civil War and Reconstruction.”  November 5, 2015.

Punishment in the Jim Crow South. Professor Natalie Ring talked about the common practice of lynching black men as punishment for perceived crimes in the Jim Crow era South. She described how socially active African-American women, such as Ida B. Wells, challenged the view of black men as predatory towards white women, which was a factor that often played a role in lynching.  November 2, 2015.

Emmett Till and Great Migration Families. Professor Krystal Frazier talked about the complexities of family life for African Americans in the North as well as the South during the mid-20th century. She spoke about the circulation of family members, ideas, and goods between the North and the South and mentions the Emmett Till case as a watershed moment in many of the personal stories she recounts. This class is from a course called “African American history Since 1900.”  March 31, 2015.

Slavery and Religion. Professor Douglas Thompson talked about religion and its impact on the relationship between slaves and their owners during the Antebellum period. He cited Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion and Frederick Douglass' 1845 memoir as examples of how whites and blacks interpreted biblical passages on slavery. This class is from a course called “Biblical Texts and American History.”  February 11, 2015.

Female Slaves and the Law. Professor Martha Jones talked about the mid-19th century court case of Celia, a female slave who killed her master after repeated sexual assaults. Topcis included what options Celia may have had, and the involvement of her fellow slaves and her master’s white neighbors in her court case.  October 21, 2014.

Life and Legacy of Booker T. Washington. Chester Fontenot talked about the life and legacy of Booker T. Washington. Professor Fontenot spoke about Mr. Washington’s early years at Tuskegee University and looks at his ideological platform which encouraged African Americans to establish their own economic base. While Booker T. Washington helped create many institutions for African Americans, such as the National Negro Business League, he also had opposition to his ideas, both during his lifetime and since. Fontenot also compared the ideas and tactics of Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr.  September 16, 2014.

American Racial Concepts and Plessy v. Ferguson.   Bowie State University history professor Tamara Brown talks about the American concept of race and how it factored into the Supreme Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision. The case served as the legal basis for segregation until it was overturned in the Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling.  March 6, 2014.

Satchel Paige, Negro Leagues Baseball, and Civil Rights. Professor Donald Spivey talked about the legacy of pitcher Satchel Paige and Negro Leagues baseball. Satchel Paige was the first Negro Leagues player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Professor Spivey also explained the ways that Paige and other Negro Leagues players and owners contributed to the struggle for civil rights, including fighting Jim Crow laws, financially supporting groups like the NAACP, and fostering friendships with white players in Major League Baseball.  February 13, 2014.

African Americans in the 1920s. Connecticut College professor David Canton talked about the lives of African Americans in the 1920s. His lecture focused on the leaders, publications, and events that made up a turbulent era for race relations in America. Professor Canton spoke about African American leaders such as A. Philip Randolph, Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois, and discussed major events, including the Great Migration, the re-birth of the Ku Klux Klan, and the 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma race riots.  October 8, 2013.

Murder of Emmett Till. George Mason University professor Suzanne Smith talked about the Emmett Till case, including details of his murder, the investigation and trial, race relations in Mississippi in the 1950s and Till’s funeral which included an open casket so the damage done to him could be seen and photographed.  Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago who in the summer of 1955 was visiting family in Mississippi. A few days after an incident at a local grocery store, Till was kidnapped from his relatives' home and murdered.  March 21, 2013.

Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1968. Goucher College professor Jean Baker taught a class on the Civil Rights Movement, from Rosa Parks refusal to move to the back of the bus in 1955, to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The class also discussed a book of oral histories by journalist Howell Raines titled, My Soul is Rested: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South. Goucher College is in Baltimore, Maryland.   March 7, 2013.

Transatlantic Slave Trade. Michael Gomez talked about the transatlantic slave trade from the sixteenth century through the nineteenth century, including the countries involved and the methods used in the procurement of slaves, such as raiding and kidnapping. He also spoke about the history of Africans who dealt in the slave trade to pay debts and punish neighboring factions.  March 5, 2013.

Aftermath of Slavery to Reconstruction.   Shawn Leigh Alexander spoke about the era in between the end of slavery and the beginning of segregation. Professor Alexander talked about the failed Civil Rights Act of 1875, the Supreme Court 's 1896 “separate but equal” ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, and African American journalist Ida B. Wells work to expose the horrors of lynching.  February 28, 2013.

The New Jim Crow.  Michelle Alexander talks about her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, in which she argues that the “get tough on crime” policies that began in the early 1970s were enacted in an effort to push back the gains of the Civil Rights Movement. This effort, she said, had been successful. Professor Alexander spoke at the University of Tennessee at an event hosted by the university’s Africana Studies Program.  January 22, 2013.

Black Power Movement in the 1960s. Professor Howard Brick of University of Michigan talked about the Black Power Movement in the 1960s. While the Civil Rights Movement led by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. sought equality through non-violent civil disobedience, an emerging Black Power Movement in the mid-1960s - guided variously by Malcolm X, Stokley Carmichael and the leaders of the Black Panther Party - sought change through black nationalism and separatism. Professor Brick talked about the roots and causes for this transformation in the struggle for African American equality.  November 7, 2012.

U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War. History Professor Roger Davidson discusses Emancipation and U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. Professor Davidson explains how African Americans used the disorder caused by the Civil War to escape enslavement. He also details how former slaves offered their services to Union forces to help bring about the end of slavery. This fifty-minute class took place at Coppin State University in Baltimore.   April 25, 2012.

Stories of Fugitive Slaves.   Richard Blackett, the 2012 Steven and Janice Brose Distinguished Lecturer, talked about the complexities of the Underground Railroad. Topics included how fugitive slaves used the U.S. Mail to communicate with other slaves and how they planned and executed escapes to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. He responded to questions from members of the audience. This 12th annual Brose Lecture, “Taking a New Look at the Underground Railroad,” was given at the Nittany Lion Inn.  March 15, 2012.

History of African-American Images in the Media.   Emory University African American Studies professor, Nathan McCall talked about the history of negative African-American images and portrayals in the media. Professor McCall’s lecture spanned from America’s founding through current imagery of President Obama. He responded to questions from students.  February 23, 2012.

Music of the Civil Rights Movement.   University of Michigan history professor Kevin Gaines gave a lecture on the music of the civil rights and black power movement. Several song clips were featured during the class as well as slides.  November 7, 2011.

Resistance Methods of Women in Slavery.   Virginia Tech history professor Beverly Bunch-Lyons discussed women in slavery, and their methods of resistance during a university course on black history. Her lecture “Black Women, Slavery, and Resistance in America” examines how the experiences of enslaved women differed from those of enslaved men and how these women resisted slavery in four major categories: everyday resistance; running away and marooning; gynecological resistance; and anti-intuitive resistance. During this class session Professor Bunch-Lyons and her students read first-hand accounts from former slave women about their experiences.   October 27, 2011.

"Black Founders" and Abolitionism.   Richard Newman, a history professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, teaches a course on American slavery and freedom. His class details the struggle of blacks against a history of oppression. In the January 20, 2011, class, Professor Newman focused on the topic of “black founders,” the generations of blacks during the founding of the nation, and abolitionism.  January 19, 2011.

The 14th Amendment and Race Civil Rights scholars and leaders talked about the historical significance of the 14th Amendment and recent proposals to repeal it. They also responded to questions from the audience.  This program was part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 40th annual legislative conference.  September 17, 2010.

Slavery By Another Name Douglas Blackmon talked about his book Slavery By Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, published by Doubleday. He talked about the laws enacted between the Civil War and World War II that limited the rights of blacks. During this time, blacks who committed minor crimes were forced to do hard labor for commercial interests. That day was the 100th anniversary of the arrest of Green Cottenham, who was the central character of his book. Mr. Cottenham was sentenced to hard labor in conditions that would eventually kill him. Mr. Blackmon talked about the history of racism in America and read several passages of his book. He responded to questions from members of the audience.  March 31, 2008.

This course (via YouTube) introduces the viewer to African-American history, with particular emphasis on the political thought and protest movements of the period after 1930, focusing on selected individuals who have shaped and been shaped by modern African-American struggles for freedom and justice. Clayborne Carson is a professor in the History Department at Stanford University.

Complete playlist for Introduction to African-American History Course (HIST 166)

Course syllabus

More on Clayborne Carson

An Introduction to African American Studies : An online course offered by Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 2007.

Rethinking the Black Freedom Movement : A five part online lecture series by Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, the University of Illinois, Urbana, starting September 27, 2011.

African American History: From Emancipation to the Present.  A course offered by Jonathan Holloway, Professor of History, African American Studies and American Studies at Yale University in Spring 2010. The purpose of this course is to examine the African American experience in the United States from 1863 to the present. Prominent themes include the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; African Americans’ urbanization experiences; the development of the modern civil rights movement and its aftermath; and the thought and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X.

From Jail to Law School: Jim Crow-Era Law Bars Florida Man from Voting, Taking Bar, Serving on Jury. This program features Attorney General Eric Holder speaking about the need to repeal of state laws that prohibit formerly incarcerated people from voting. Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, is also featured. He talks about not being able to vote (or take the bar) because he was convicted of a felony in the state of Florida.

The Prison: A Sign of Democracy? : UC Santa Cruz professor Angela Davis explores the range of social problems associated with incarceration and the generalized criminalization of those communities that are most affected by poverty and racial discrimination. She urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without prisons and to help forge a 21st century abolitionist movement. [2/2008] [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 13826]

Angela Davis on Trayvon Martin and Violence in America : Dr Angela Davis was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Diversity is a Way of L.I.F.E conference at Rhode Island College April 13, 2012.  In her keynote Davis speaks about how the Trayvon Martin case is just an example of the level of violence happening in America today.

Slavery and the Prison Industrial Complex - Angela Davis Lecture at Florida International. 5th Annual Eric Williams Memorial Lecture at Florida International University September 19, 2003.

YAKI, GEORGE, AND MUMIA: BLACK THEORETICIANS IN THE PRISON CAMPS
http://brothermalcolm.net/TRANSFORMED/

What happens when Black people are locked up in an American prison and are transformed into revolutionary intellectuals whose ideas fly out of the confinement of their bodies? One answer, an important one, is revealed in the lives of Yaki, George, and Mumia: revolutionary theoreticians in the prisons camps. We can continue to learn from them.

James "Yaki" Sayles (aka Atiba Shana)
(1948 - 2008)

George Jackson
(1941 - 1971)

Mumia Abu Jamal
(1954 -  )

Produced by Abdul Alkalimat
alkalimat.org